TED Talks for Entrepreneurs v2

TED Talks are some of the most provocative and inspiring video resources available for free today. Entrepreneurs owe it to themselves to take a look at the videos listed below and see how they can integrate these cutting-edge ideas into their businesses.

*If you didn’t get a chance to see v1 click here, otherwise check out the videos below

Seth Godin: “How to Get Your Ideas to Spread”

In this TED talk filmed in 2003, Seth Godin describes why certain ideas fail, like the first introduction of sliced bread, and why it succeeds by clever marketing and appealing to market demands of the time (Wonder Bread’s eventual success). In the modern age, he describes how “very good” isn’t good enough to stimulate otaku, a Japanese concept for fervent obsessiveness, and how those with otaku are whom marketers should really be aiming towards persuading. Ultimately, the bold, bizarre, and audacious ideas are what drives products to flourish in the marketplace.

Nigel Marsh: “How to Make Work-Life Balance Work”

Australian author and co-founder of charitable foundation Earth Hour (www.earthhour.org) Nigel Marsh offers a candid TED Talk, detailing how his life became unmanageable through an unhealthy work-life balance. After a year of not working, he reentered the workplace with an idea of the perfect workday: sex, sports, and family life, all interspersed with burst of work and satisfaction. Nigel concludes that the corporate model of achievement is in direct opposition to happiness without a focus on balance.

Richard St. John: “8 Secrets of Success”

Unable to fully answer a question on a flight from a young child on how to find success, analyst Richard St. John began a quest to discover an answer. Condensing seven years of interviewing successful people, Richard boils down eight reasons into a three-minute slideshow that entrepreneurs must follow. Hilariously, he concludes that above all, we must persevere through C.R.A.P.: Criticism, Resistance, Assholes, and Pressure.

Dan Ariely: “Are We in Control of Our Own Decisions?”

In this TED talk, behavioral economist Dan Ariely shows how susceptible (and gullible) we are to differences in perception in all facets of our lives. The unfortunate news is that our thought process are extremely predictable. The good news that as consumers and business owners, we can make better decisions simply by being aware of our inherent faults.

Tim Harford: “Trial, Error, and the God Complex”

We are all fooling ourselves by thinking that we’re omnipotent gods. Economics writer Tim Harford discusses in this provocative and inspiring TED Talk how short-sighted we may be to the immensity of options and solutions in the world. He concludes with demonstrating how Unilever’s pursuit of the perfect nozzle for their laundry detergent factory wasn’t a product of straight research, but the simple idea of trial-and-error. In fact, they still don’t know how it works!

Aeona’s mission is to simplify the process of starting and running a business while doing it’s best to contribute to the success of those that choose to make the ever so frightening risk in to entrepreneurship. We intend on doing this by breaking down the barriers that stand in the way of entrepreneurial progress while shedding light on crucial business practices, common pitfalls as well as methods for overcoming the challenges that every entrepreneur will inevitably face.